Rice meeting with Olmert in Israel — JERUSALEM - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, leading the first high-level U.S. diplomatic mission since war broke out in Lebanon, said Tuesday the time has come for a new Middle East and an urgent end to the violence hanging over the region.

Nations Reluctant to Commit Troops to Lebanon — PARIS, July 24 — Support is building quickly for an international military force to be placed in southern Lebanon, but there remains a small problem: where will the troops come from? — The United States has ruled out its soldiers participating …

Why People Don't Think Democrats Believe What They Say — The habit of the Democratic Party to kill itself via self-referential meta-talk was on full display at the DLC meeting yesterday. Tell me if you can find what is wrong with the message coming out of the conference. From the Mercury News:

A Proportionate Response is Madness — If by chance you have the search engine LexisNexis and you punch in the words "Israel'' and "disproportionate,'' you run the risk of blowing up your computer or darkening your entire neighborhood. Just limiting the search to newspapers and magazines …

It's Disproportionate. . . Just my luck. I go away on vacation and it happens to be the week when George W. Bush's strategic view of the current world situation is revealed: Russia big. China big, too. World leaders boring. Lady world leaders need neck rub. Terrorism bad.

Access Denied — What do you do when the people you represent want to be represented by someone else? What do you do when the your highest approval ratings come from members of the party you claim to differentiate yourself from? What do you do when you're down and desperate?

Spazeboy and Me Get Chucked By Holy Joe, Bush-Style — I drove all the way up to Waterbury yesterday excited about the prospect of seeing Bill Clinton speak. Whatever one may think of Bill, his politics and his legacy, his defiance in the face of the right-wing hate machine onslaught are inspirational.

Former President Joins Rally for Lieberman — WATERBURY, Conn., July 24 — Former president Bill Clinton joined a stage full of Connecticut officials Monday night in testifying to the Democratic credentials of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, whose 18-year tenure is threatened by the primary challenge of antiwar insurgent Ned Lamont.

Top Iraqi's White House Visit Shows Gaps With U.S. — Iraqis buried their dead Monday from another suicide bombing. Prime Minister Maliki has tried without success to end such violence. — BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 24 — When Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki visits the White House on Tuesday …

50 percent of U.S. says Iraq had WMDs — Half of Americans now say Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the United States invaded the country in 2003 — up from 36 percent last year, a Harris poll finds. Pollsters deemed the increase both "substantial" and "surprising" …

Good Luck, Mr. Leopold — After giving Jason Leopold the heads up on my story almost two weeks ago, he claimed I was threatening him. I did no such thing but this was a tactic used by Leopold, Larisa Alexandrovna of Raw Story, and John Dean, their lackey - allege threats where there were none.

Poll: Donnelly, Chocola in tight race — Pollster: Indicators say Chocola in trouble — Democratic challenger Joe Donnelly appears to have a slight edge in his bid to upset Republican incumbent Chris Chocola for the 2nd District congressional seat, according to a districtwide poll taken on behalf of The Tribune and WSBT-TV.

Nice Rats, Nasty Rats: Maybe It's All in the Genes — On an animal-breeding farm in Siberia are cages housing two colonies of rats. In one colony, the rats have been bred for tameness in the hope of mimicking the mysterious process by which Neolithic farmers first domesticated an animal still kept today.

WAKING NIGHTMARES: — A week ago, I entertained a nightmare scenario whereby Moqtada Sadr sends his Mahdi Army militia to fight alongside Hezbollah. The nightmare would be Israel attacking Sadr in retaliation for his attacks on the IDF or Israeli civilians, thereby prompting the inevitable …

50 Most Beautiful People on Capitol Hill — #1 Michelle Persaud, 27 — Staff counsel — Michelle Persaud's delicate features burst into a smile as she describes the mistake many men make with her. — Seeing her dark eyes and mocha skin, her flowing black tresses and expansive lashes …

Bush Job Approval at 37% — Similar to 37% average rating for all of June — PRINCETON, NJ — A new USA Today/Gallup poll finds 37% of Americans approving of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 59% disapproving. Despite many extraordinary events dominating the news over the past weeks …

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